He was severely beaten by two men who punched him in the face, causing him to fall and hit his head on the pavement. The men continued to kick the severely intoxicated man while he was on the ground. And it was all caught on videotape. Yet it took several months before the attackers faced murder charges.

Brian Bishop, 41, was taken to a Boston hospital after he was attacked outside the Lit bar on Ames Street. He clung to life in a coma for several days, but eventually died on June 18.

“Brian’s friends will be glad to hear that. I’m sure his family will be glad to hear that,” said Peter Damon, a local veterans activist and childhood friend of Bishop.

“I guess you could say we were a little shocked the charges weren’t upped in a more timely manner,” Damon said, but added he was happy to hear Johnson and Finch were finally facing murder charges.

The statute both men are charged under is simply for murder, the text of the law reads that a jury will decide whether it is first degree (defined as murder committed with deliberately premeditated malice aforethought, or with extreme atrocity or cruelty) or second degree.